Draft rigging



. COOK DRAFT RIGGING APPLICATION HLED luLY 5 Patented f Oct. 37,

@men/wz l Patented @et il?, i922..

U irl iii BERNARD oook, or

y DRAFT Application filed July 5,

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BERNARD Cook, a citizenof the United States, residing at Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke andState of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDraft Rigging; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,

clear, land eXact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

Theinvention relates to draft rigging for railway cars, and moreparticularly yto a method and means whereby the lost motion between thevarious parts of the draft rigging mechanism, caused/by the tremendousshocks and blows of service, may be'taken up without modification orreconstruction or renewal of the movable parts of the draft rigging.

One of the principal objects of my invention, broadly statec, is toprovide means easily attachable to the draft rigging mechanism foreliminating lostmotion. To this end, that portion of the inventioncomprises a shim, block or plate which may be interposed between tworelatively movable parts of the draft rigging, whereby the lost motionbetween the said parts is removed, the said shim, block or plate beingso constructed as to be readily attachable to the draft rigging and ofsimple construction and inexpensive to manufacture. The other portion`of my invention has for its object to follow such a procedure or methodintaking up lost motion as will give good results when done by theordinary. car repair man without expert draft gear knowledge, and aswill also be quickly and easily accomlished and will give a completerestoration of the worn parts.

efore describing my invention in connection with the specific embodimentthereof which has been selected for the purpose of illustration,attention is called to the effect lost motion has on the efficiency ofdraft rigging. Owing to the construction of railway cars and thenecessity of limiting the separation between two cars of a train, thelongitudinal movement of the .couplers in either direction from normalhas been limited to approximately three inches as a maximum. Within thislimited movement all draft.` riggings must and are de- ROANOKE, VIRGINA.

RIGGING.

1918. Serial N0. 243,373.

signed, so as to developtheir maximum capacities, hence lost motion inany one of the parts of the draft rigging mechanism whereby a portion ofthe movement of the coupler unresisted reduces the capacity of the draftrigging. And not only is the capacity of the frictioning mechanismreduced by lost motion between the parts, but the lost motion betweenthe partsv permits the parts to move so as to produce therebetween aslap or hammer blow which causes rapid deterioration m the metal andresults in frequent failureV of the parts with disastrous results to thecars.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a view partially in longitudinal section and partially inside elevation illustrating the invention applied to a draft rigging. v

Figure 2 is a view showing in side and f ront elevation a shim designedfor application to a coupler, and

Figure 3 is a view showing in side and front elevation a shim designedfor insertion between the yoke and a stationary part of the car framing.

Throughout the specification and drawing like partsare designated alike.

Referring now to the disclosure, l designates one of the car center ordraft sills, 2 the end framing, 3 the lioor oi' cover plate, and -l vtheangle plate which serves to connect the end framing and the said coverplate.

The coupler 5 is connected to the yoke 6 by means of transverselyextendingkeyT 7. interposed between the rear end of the coupler and theclosed 'end of the yoke is the cushioning mechanism or draft gearproper, which may comprise a front follower 8, a rear follower 9, and acombined friction and spring mechanism 10. In the drawings there isillustrated a well known type of friction mechanism whichA comprises aplurality of wedging friction blocks 1l and '1.2, a wedging ring 13, anda spring casing 141. It is here pointed out that thc particular form ofcushioning mechanism does not form a part of the novel arrangement andhence the invention is not limited to this or any other particular typeof cushioning mechanism.

To maintain the cushioning mechanism in 'position between the arms ofthe yoke 7 and in alinement with vthe coupler and the back stop 15,there may be provided a pair of transversely disposed tie straps ordraft gear supporting members 1G aiid17, respectively.

Stops siich'as 28, are riveted tothe facesof* the center sills 1 to forma pocket between these stops and the backstop for the draft gear, thefront follower 8 seating against these stops 23. While the rearei'id'block preferably comprises an angleshaped member one `flange of whichis. adapted to contactwith' the rear face of the coupler,` and the.otheri flange of which is 'adapted to underlie thecoupler and tocontact with'the lower face thereof. To maintain the shim block inposition the lower flange thereof may be per-.

forated, as shown at 19, anda bolt, such as 19 is passed through one ofthe rivet openings in the coupler and through the perforationsl 19 inthe said shim. rlhis shim or block compensates for lost Amotion betweenthe key and the couplerand yoke which may be caused by elongation of thekey slot in either of these members. This is a! very common defect indraft rigging, and unlessvcorrected causes a rapid deterioration of thedraft riggings due to the slap or hammer blows hereinbefore mentioned.

In order to compensate for thelost motion betweenn the yoke andthe backstop .'15, there is provided a shim block'20, whiclialso may comprise anangle plate, the rightl'lange of which is 'adapted to be insertedbetween the said,.yoke and backstop; The horizontally disposed Harigebeing adapted to underlie the lowerfaceof the rear tie strap 17 and tobe connected thereto by the rivets 21which may, for convenience, becountersunk'iii the said plate 17; The upper end of the shimQO ispreferably provided-with a tapered prtion 22 so that the saine may bedriven into place.

It is to be understood that while' the drawings illustrate a draftrigging having a shim applied to the coupler anda shiin also appliedbetween the backstop and yoke that the invention is not limited to' thisdouble application, since the application of a shim block such yasdisclosed and described in either of the locations may compensate forall lost motion which the particular draft gear has developed.

In lining-up draftvriggijngs the first step is to pull the coupler 5forward until the key is in contact with the rear of the slotin' thecoupler and with the front of the slots in the yoke; also untiltlie yokeis in contact with the rear of Vfollower 9 and until the draft gear andfront follower 8 are all drawn up without lost motion against the frontstop 23. The liner 18 of the proper thickness is then inserted betweenvthe butt of the coupler and the drafty gear or front follower and"another liner 20 is inserted between the yoke on the rear o'f the'draft gear and the rear limiting stop 15. This method takes up in aprac- 'tica'l'manner all of the slack and can be followed by unskilledworkmen and without removingV the gear or the main parts of theattachments.

Having now fullyy described my iiiventioin although it is to be'understoodth'at the terms employed are to' bel taken in theiidescrip!tive andnot tlieir limiting'sense, since what Iclaimaiid desire tosecure by LettersPat ent is: 'y Y V1.A In a draft rigging thecombination with acoulei1 a oke 'of cusl'iioninc'vniechan'isiiiiincluding affollower seated within the said yoke, `a transverselydisposed key'connecting said yoke and coupler, and means for .taking uplos'tmotioii betweensadyoke antdcoupier', saidfineansI comprising amember coir nect'ed tofthe said coupler and inovabletheres;

with and inseif'te'ld betw'eeiisaid coupler and the Y'said follower.l

vf2. In a draft rigging a shii'n'for takii'i'g 'up lost motion, saidVshim "comprising an angle plate one flange of which'ser'ves as -meansfor connecting the said shim to a draft riggifiigv and 'the other flangebein-g" irisertible between tworelatively movable parts of the said"draftv rigging.

3. In adraft rigging, a coupler, a yoke, aV key connectingtthe same,a'cushioning niecl'ii' ani sm within the yoke and to the rear ofthecoupler, 'and means for "compensating ,hir

wear between the key'a'nd" the yoke and'coul' pler, saidmeansfbe'inginterposed 'between' the coupler and cushioning mechanism, and"adaptedto normallycontact'both of said' elements.l

4. The mailed efeompgnsaiiigrer10st motionA in the draftriggingofra'ilway carsv of the type `wherein "the 'coupler' abut's'fthedraft gear and the latter'is lc'ontaiiied within a pocket having frontand rear limiting stops and in which a pulling yoke connects the "c`ou`pler and draft gear, the samelconsistiiig of drawing the coupler aheadtol'th'e pointat iio izo

ofthe =type''wherein' the couplera'buts' the draft gear and the latteris contained within a pocket having yfront and rear-"limiting stops andiii which a pulling yoke'surrounds the draft gear and'is key connectedto the coupler, the same consisting of drawing the coupler ahead untilthe key is in Contact with the coupler and the yoke and until the yokeis in Contact with the gear and the gear in turn with the front limitingStops, then applying a liner of suitable thickness between the rear endof the coupler and the draft gear to fill up the space therebetween, andthen lining the front face of the rear limiting stop an amountsufficient to bring the draft gear 10 into Contact.

In testimony whereoI I aiiX my signature.

BERNARD oooK.

